Belt-attached article carrier



March 1967 J. E. ANKETELL BELT-ATTACHED ARTICLE CARRIER Filed Oct. 19. 1965 INVENTOR. If. u lnizfefiet Jokiz BY United States Patent 3,307,754 BELT-ATTACHED ARTICLE CARRIER John E. Anketell, Fitzwilliam, N.H. 03447 Filed Oct. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,690 Claims. (Cl. 224-1) This invention pertains to belt-attached article carriers, more particularly to a carrier or holster for a night stick such as is carried by a police officer.

Various belt-attached carriers designed for this purpose are on the market, but none of these prior devices, which is known to me, is altogether satisfactory or adequate.

Obviously, such a device should be so designed as to permit the instant and unimpeded withdrawal of the night stick when needed. On the other hand, it should insure dependable support and retention of the night stick when the latter is not in use. The carrier should be light in weight; it should not project unduly when in use or obstruct the body movements of the wearer; and when in use should provide a rigid non-collapsible support, for example, a ring of hard material, whose interior is unobstructed, to permit free downward motion of the stick in inserting the latter into the ring. Desirably, it should be of a construction such that when not in use it may be, if desired, folded so as to occupy little space, but of a design such that when it is to be used it may be put into operative condition without the use of tools.

The object of the present invention is to provide an article carrier intended for the above purpose and which provides all of the above-named desirable characteristics but which, at the same time, is of very simple and durable construction and may be made at low cost.

A device embodying the present invention in a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation, partly in section, showing the device attached to a belt and supporting a night stick, the latter being shown in broken lines;

FIG. 2 is a similar view but omitting the night stick and showing the device as collapsed, for example, for shipment or storage;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse section, to larger scale (in a radial plane of the ring which embraces the night stick), showing the device positioned to support the night stick;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section, to larger scale, showing the end portions of the supporting strap; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary transverse radial section of the ring, showing the ends of the strap contacting the ring and symmetrically located as respects a diametrical midplane of the ring.

Referring to the drawings, the character S designates a conventional night stick such as is used by police officers and which comprises an elongate, substantially cylindrical portion provided at one end with a handle H. Usually at the junction of the handle and the main body of the stick there is a peripheral enlargement which may be an integral rib, or no more than an encircling thong of flexible leather, rubber, or the like, forming a part of a loop designed to encircle the wrist of the user, such an enlargement being indicated in FIG. 1 by the character T.

The carrier of the present invention, which is designed to support the night stick from the belt B of the wearer, comprises a loop portion 10 which may, for example, consist of a ribbon of flexible leather, for instance ,1 of an inch in width, and of a length such that when doubled 3,307,754 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 and attached to the stick-supporting ring 11 and suspended from the wearers belt B, the ring 11 will be located below the wearers belt to support the night stick in desired position. i

The ring 11 is of any suitable rigid material but preferably non-metallic; for example, it may be of hard rubber or vulcanite, or it may be a suitable molded plastic, and its interior diameter should be such as to accommodate the night stick with a free fit, so that the night stick may be slipped into it easily or readily withdrawnan internal diameter of the order of 1% inches being suflicient for a night stick of customary diameter. If the ring be made of a hard and rigid plastic, the diameter of the ring material itself may, for example, be of the order of /1 of an inch, but this dimension will depend upon the material employed and in any event be sufficient to insure the desired rigidity and strength.

Before attaching the strap to the ring, the strap is doubled, as shown at 12 (FIG. 2) to provide the generally parallel legs 13 and 14, and the extreme ends of these legs are, as shown in FIG. 6, beveled at 15 and 16, respectively, to diverge from each other. In assembling the strap with the ring, the end portions of the legs 13 and 14 are interposed between parallel jaws 20 and 21 of a metallicclamping device consisting of a single length of sheet steel and having an approximately circular portion 22 which embraces the ring 11. With the beveled faces of the legs of the strap contacting the surface of the ring and frictionally contacting the ring, the jaws 20 and 21 are drawn together by a rivet 17 which passes through holes in the clamping jaws 20 and 21 and through holes in the legs 13 and 14 of the strap with the heads 18 and 19 of the rivet engaging the outer surfaces of the clamping jaws 20 and 21 and holding the leg portions 13 and 14 of the strap forcibly in contact with the beveled surfaces 15 and 16 of the strap in contact with the peripheral surface of the ring 11.

If the end portions of the legs 13 and 14 be initially positioned relatively to the ring 11, as illustrated in FIG. 7 where the two end surfaces 15 and 16 of the strap are disposed symmetrically with respect to a midplane P of the ring, and clamped in this position and then if force be applied sufficient to turn the strap relatively to the ring into the position shown in FIG. 3, the extreme edge 15a (FIG. 5) of one of the legs of the strap will be deformed to form a concave curve as shown in FIG. 5 as it is moved into engagement with a concave ring-surface of smaller radius than previously, and as thus deformed the strap strongly and frictionally resists any force tending to move the ring back to the position shown in FIG. 2-in fact the resisting force is amply suflicient to hold the ring in the position in FIG. 1 while supporting the weight of the night stick.

With this very simple arrangement, it is thus possible to provide an adequate support for a night stick which occupies but little space when in use; which provides an arrangement such as to permit the easy insertion or withdrawal of the night stick; which is very light in weight and very simple in construction; which does not require use of any tool for changing the parts from the position of FIG. 1 to the position of FIG. 2; and which, when in use, does not protrude unduly from the wearers person or have any sharp projecting parts which might snag the wearers clothing or cause accidental injury to the hands.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention has herein been disclosed by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any modification, either of dimensions or materials, which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A night stick carrier comprising a rigid open ring of an internal diameter such as to receive the night stick with a free fit, a flexible loop designed to receive the wearers belt so as to be suspended from the latter, and means for connecting the ring to the loop, said connecting means being operative to support the ring so that its axis is substantially vertical and to retain the ring in said latter position for supporting a night stick when in use, and wherein said loop consists of a length of flexible material, doubled to dispose its end edges substantially in registry, said edges frictionally contacting the peripheral surface of the ring, and means permanently clamping the end portions of said length of ribbon-like material together and securing them to the ring.

2. A night stick carrier according to claim 1, wherein, when the carrier is in use, one of the end edges of the strap engages and is deformed to conform to a concave portion of the peripheral surface of the ring while the other end edge contacts a convex portion of the peripheral surface of the ring.

3. A night stick carrier according to claim 1, wherein the end portions of the length of flexible material are beveled to provide inclined end faces, said end faces sloping in opposite directions and each being in substantially tangential contact with the curved peripheral surface of the ring.

4. A night stick carrier according to claim 3, further characterized in having a clamping device comprising a length of sheet metal doubled to form a loop which embraces the ring and opposed jaws having the end portions of said length of ribbon-like material interposed between said jaws, and means permanently clamping said jaws together and so confining them that said inclined edge faces of the material make frictional contact, respectively, with the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the ring.

5. A night stick carrier comprising a rigid ring of an internal diameter to receive a night stick with a free sliding fit, a flexible strap comprising a loop for the reception of a wearers belt, the strap having two end surfaces which contact the ring, and clamping means connecting the strap to the ring, said clamping means being operative so to press said end surfaces against the ring as frictionally to support the ring with its axis substantially vertical.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,236 9/1902 Audley 2241 954,765 4/1910 Rune.

1,318,850 10/1919 De Yong.

2,830,478 4/1958 Prince 2245 X GERALD M; FORLENZA, Primary Examiner. MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Examiner.

F. WERNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A NIGHT STICK CARRIER COMPRISING A RIGID OPEN RING OF AN INTERNAL DIAMETER SUCH AS TO RECEIVE THE NIGHT STICK WITH A FREE FIT, A FLEXIBLE LOOP DESIGNED TO RECEIVE THE WEARER''S BELT SO AS TO BE SUSPENDED FROM THE LATTER, AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE RING TO THE LOOP, SAID CONNECTING MEANS BEING OPERATIVE TO SUPPORT THE RING SO THAT ITS AXIS IS SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AND TO RETAIN THE RING IN SAID LATTER POSITION FOR SUPPORTING A NIGHT STICK WHEN IN USE, AND WHEREIN SAID LOOP CONSISTS OF A LENGTH OF FLEXIBLE 